BinocularsBlog – Advice on Digital, Waterproof, & Compact Binoculars for Bird Watching, Sports, Astronomy, Night Vision, & more!

Comet Lulin has now been added to my list of astronomy binocular objects. Last night, just before midnight, I stepped out on the patio with my Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe binocular and scanned a couple of degrees to the right and bit below Saturn. Comet Lulin appeared much as I expected - a small faint fuzzy with low surface brightness. Reminded me of our recent Comet 17/P Holmes in its days of waning brightness. Could not detect a tail on Comet Lulin, but it was bright enough, in my opinion, to be seen in a smaller binocular by an experienced observer, so you might want to try it with a good birding binocular or hunting binocular. Some folks tell me they are seeing a bit more in a large telescope, so I'll try that next.

What a fabulous weekend for me and my cross country skis. Had about 3 inches of fresh snow to greet me on Saturday morning and managed to get out before the snow plows. Made it the one mile over to the park on skis, right down people's sidewalks. Once at the park, I managed several trips around the lake, plus some side runs to a wildlife area, in all about eight miles. Best birding event of the day was a Cooper's Hawk a mere fifteen feet away, sitting on a fence, next to someone's birdfeeder. Magnificent sight in my Nikon Premier LX 10x25, right down to the birds eye. The lesson, here, is to never ski without a compact binocular (as if I would go anywhere, by any means, without a binocular). Again, I am pleased with how close an approach the skis allow when birding. Guess the birds are unaccustomed to see people on skis. Come to think of it, many of my neighbors probably feel the same.

Magnification in a binocular is a relative thing. Most binoculars sold these days are 8x, followed closely by 10x with all the other magnifications lumped, together, following at a distant third. Is there really that much difference between an 8x and a 10x in terms of how much detail you can see? Think about this. In astronomy, when using a telescope, we use a rule of thumb called the magnification double. When you want to see significantly more detail than whatever magnification you are using, you double the magnification. For instance, from 25x to at least 50x and from 50x to 100x and so on. Anything less is considered not significant. A difference of only 2x in astronomy is considered to be undetectable, but so many people lose sleep over 2x in a binocular. I own both 8x and 10x binoculars and, at one time or other, just about very magnification you can get in a handheld binocular. Magnification is as much a personal choice as it is a performance choice in a binocular, as long as you can hold the binocular steady and for most people that means no more than 10x.

I have never seen so many Cooper's Hawks in all my years of birding as I have in the last five years since I moved into these suburbs outside of Chicago. My biologist friends tell me what I already know - the numbers of this very interesting hawk are on the rise. I have no doubt that our local suburban habitat with plenty of trees, parks and, of course, bird feeders - Cooper's eat mostly small birds and bird feeders offer a great place to hunt them - are a major contributing factor. If you are new to birding, you will want to get this hawk in your birding binocular, as the adult is quite handsome and truly the essence of a raptor in its bearing and appearance. With experience, you won't really need a binocular to identify a Cooper's, as their flight, behavior and silhouette are quite different from our other locally common hawk, the Red-tailed. For sure, if you have a hawk visiting your bird feeder, it is most likely a Cooper's, not a Red-tailed. A great resource for identifying these and other birds, not to mention some great info on all things bird, is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which we support as a sponsor, here at OpticsPlanet.

The ever changing global landscape of the binocular industry makes it tough to predict binocular prices in the future for any specific model, but I expect to see the trend continue of more binoculars produced in China, to keep prices competitive, with fewer and fewer binoculars made in Japan or Europe. Not to worry, there are some excellent binoculars on the market that are made in China, but if you have political and environmental concerns (as I do), it means spending more money to get a Japanese or European binocular. There are still some Japanese binoculars out there under $500, such as the excellent Swift Audubon 828HHS (my favorite at this price) or the fine Leupold Pinnacles, but typically you need to push the $500 and up price point if you do not want the binocular to say made in China.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only birder in my neck of the woods, since I seldom see other birders in my area. That's not entirely an illusion, but there are one or two. Janet lives near one of our suburban lakes and is a top-notch birder and we always talk birds when we encounter each other on the trail. We are a study in contrasts, to some extent. Like most birders, she just walks the trails and carries a full size birding binocular in the superb Swarovski 10x42 EL. She uses an 8x during warbler migration, but I almost always see her with that beloved Swarovski binocular around her neck. As for me, I am the bike lady (people actually call me that in the neighborhood), and it is rare to find me on foot, even when birding. To keep the size and weight down when riding, nearly all my birding is done with one of my premium compact birding binoculars. Last time I met Janet, I was using wearing Leica Ultravid 10x25BL. Different styles and different preferences in binoculars, to be sure, but we both see plenty of birds.

I can be as coldly objective as any person on this planet, especially when it comes to binoculars and binocular specifications and performance. Being objective, though, also implies a commitment to truth and, in that case, I also have to say that when it comes to my personal choice in binoculars, there is also a huge subjective component. I have favorites and cannot always tell you, specifically, why they are my favorites. Compact binoculars are a case in point. I own the very best in the Leica Ultravid, Nikon Premier LX, Swarovski Pocket (Crystal version) and will soon add the Zeiss Victory Compact (maybe I should start my own birding club). I love them all, but which one would I keep if I could only have one? I have to honestly say it would not necessarily be the one that tested the best in terms of optics. The choice would no doubt be made on emotional, rather than, technical reasons. Not about to divulge that secret, though, so I'll let you guess as to which compact binocular I would keep and none of these premium compact binoculars of mine are for sale, anyway. Get your own compact binocular.

I've had a love-hate affair with contact lenses all my life. Contacts really come in handy at times, but there are also times I much prefer my glasses. One of the times I prefer glasses is when using binoculars. This may come as a surprise to some, but as long as I am using a binocular with enough eye relief, my glasses make life easier. I use my glasses as a brace to steady my binocular. I just place the eyecups right on the lenses (I have yet to scratch them doing this) and, voila, I have a great support for the binocular. Without my glasses, I have no convenient rest and I fumble a bit with the binocular. That's why, when wearing contacts, I sometimes use sunglasses to get my support, again. I may not look as good with glasses, but what I see through the binocular does when I wear glasses.

Just for fun, I used a compact binocular on the moon last night to check craters and maria and, no surprise, the 10x compact binocular did just about as well as my much larger 10x astronomy binoculars. Let's face it, the moon is plenty bright. So now you have no excuse if you've been wanting to start astronomy and have been to buy a big, large astronomy binocular. You can use any binocular to observe the moon and, yes, there is a surprising amount of detail to be seen on the moon at typical binocular magnifications. Even more interesting, the changing light on the moon, from one night to the next, highlights different detail. On any given night, some new craters pop into view, some you saw a few nights previous are now lost in the glare.

I've done a lot of birding these past few years on my bicycle, mostly because I always keep an eye out for birds, no matter what I am doing and I bicycle more than just about anything else I do, except perhaps, sleeping. This winter, though, I've fallen in love with cross country skiing, so, naturally, I have been carrying my compact binocular and doing some birding on skis. I am happy to report that ski poles make an excellent impromptu monopod for a birding binocular, so the combination of XC skiing and birding is definitely a go. In fact, I seem to be able to get closer to birds on the skiis than when walking or bicycling. Might be the unusual movement or the silence, but it does seem to make a difference. For sure, XC skiing is much quieter than crunching through the snow on foot when the snow has a crust. This is all so much fun, maybe I'll add canoeing and birding this summer.

Finally got a chance to examine the new version of an old favorite in the Bushnell Elite Custom Compact 7x26 binocular, formerly the Bushnell Custom Compact 7x26 binocular, formerly the Bausch&Lomb Custom Compact 7x26 binocular.

I owned the original B&L Custom Compact binocular version many years, ago, and loved it. When Bushnell re-labeled it with the Bushnell name and made changes several years, ago, I decided to test it to see what changes, if any, had been made to the old B&L. My review, two years, ago, concluded that the Bushnell Custom Compact binocular was optically similar to the old B&L Custom Compact binocular, but the Bushnell version lacked the overall feel and quality of the original due to its polymer body. So, when Bushnell decided to upgrade this version of the Custom Compact to the Elite Custom Compact, last year, I knew it was time for another test. Did Bushnell just slap an Elite label on the Custom Compact and call it good or did Bushnell really upgrade the Custom Compact as befits the Elite name?

The new Bushnell Elite 7x26 Custom Compact binocular, I am happy to say, returns to the metal chassis of the original B&L and gets us back to that same overall quality feel. The new Elite also features twist up eye cups to keep up with contemporary binocular design and other niceties, such as a new diopter adjustment via a lever, rather than a ring, and a redesigned binocular case. Could have been just luck of the draw, but the Elite I tested, recently, was also sharper at the edge of the field with optics definitely worthy of Elite status. Kudos to Bushnell for reviving this classic porro compact binocular. I may very likely add one to my collection of high-grade compact binoculars and this time I will not sell it.

Following the market trend to add HD and ED objectives to binoculars at ever lower binocular price points, Bushnell has announced a new version of the long popular Bushnell Legend binoculars with their Bushnell Legend Ultra HD binoculars. How will the new Ultras compare to the older Legends? Little early to tell until I get my hands on one, but the Legend has always been a great value in my book. Hard to improve on an established old favorite in the binocular world, but it looks promising